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Are You Including Your Temporary Employees in Company Culture?

Posted November 6th, 2018

The nature of a temporary position puts a barrier between these workers and full-time staff, and if your company wants to get the most out of its temporary workforce, it should make every effort to include temporary employees in its company culture.

Including temporary employees in the culture makes sense on the most basic level. Employers expect their temporary staff members to be just as competent as their full-time workers, so why would you regard temporary workers any less than you do full-time staff members?

It helps to remember you may be paying a premium for temporary workers to fill a void in your workforce or meet surging production demands. If you’re more invested in these employees on a per-person basis, it only makes sense to get the most out of the by integrating them into your culture.

Companies looking to support their employer brand would also be wise to include temporary employees. Word about an employer can spread fast these days, especially with social media and employer review sites like Glassdoor. If you make your temporary employees feel like outsiders, they may be quick to share their experience through anonymous posts and reviews.

With the benefits of inclusion in mind, consider taking the following measures with respect to your temporary employees.

Develop a workforce management plan

Statistics show companies are increasingly relying on freelances and temporary workers to meet their talent needs, and the trend doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon. Therefore, it’s important to get ready for that future today by talking with human resources and management teams to develop a comprehensive workforce engagement plan. A plan should include tactics for onboarding temporary employees, communicating information to them and integrating them into various meetings and events. Once you have a plan, share it with your workers and supervisors, who have to understand why inclusion matters to your company.

Set a good example

When everyday employees see leaders treating temporary employees with respect, they’ll be more likely to do the same. Make it a priority to invite temp workers to any employee gathering and conduct onboarding efforts the same as you would with new full-time employees.

Ask for input from full-time staffers

Company leaders can set the tone when it comes to including temporary workers, but for these folks to truly feel included, rank-and-file employees need to buy into the concept of inclusion. An effective way to achieve this is to get employee input on our comprehensive workforce strategy. In addition to asking about the best ways to include temporary workers, employees should be asked for suggestions on how to facilitate collaboration and communication.

Embrace employer reviews

Reading comments on the internet can be a rough undertaking. Not dealing with another person face-to-face, many people feel liberated to say all kinds of nasty things and make exaggerations.

However, burying your head in the sand when it comes to reviews of your company as an employer just isn’t an option. Make it a regular habit to plow through reviews of your company on sites like Glassdoor, take each review with a grain of salt, and consider making changes based on what you find.

Partner with Cornerstone Staffing Solutions!

At Cornerstone, we work with our clients to ensure that contract workers are fully integrated and as productive as possible. Please contact us today to find out how we can help your company.